The One
by suninrain
Summary: The moonlight caught Betty just right, as her hair hung in her face and Daniel couldn’t help but notice the slightly pink tint to her lips, and the chocolate brown of her eyes, and the soft looking skin that he so badly wanted to touch but didn’t.


**A/N**: I'm still doing AUP and I'm still planning on doing the Christmas one-shot so don't worry. I started writing this since Ugly Betty's newest episode. Please R/R and tell me what you think.

**Disclaimers: **I do not own anything associated with Ugly Betty.

**Ratings: T**

**The One**

Saying goodbye to Sofia made him feel inferior. She was right. He wasn't meant for the grand scheme of love, family, and forever. It made him feel like a failure, something his father would probably agree with, because here was a gorgeous women that actually wanted to settle down and he hesitated because his gut was saying she's right. And the moment she allowed for him to correct her, for him to prove her wrong, for him to love her, he faltered. It made him sad for her because she deserved happiness and he wasn't so sure she would have it with him. Not when Mr. 'I can't dance' was in there ready to propose to her and he was a confused, commitment fearing, never loved anyone mess.

Her eyes were sad and though he could tell she was expecting this she still didn't quite prepare herself. She exited the limo and for a brief second he felt the cold night and then the door slammed and he was alone once again. Was this goodbye?

----

When he arrived home his voicemail beeped. The red light probably served as a warning but he didn't heed. He pressed play and his father's voice boomed over the intercom.

" Daniel, I think it would be best if you'd let Sofia be. I'll admit this is the longest you've been interested in a woman but we both know you'll tire of her eventually and I would hate to have to hire another person for her position because she's one of the best. Besides she seemed happy enough with the guy she's with now. Have your assistant send her some flowers and send her on her way. Don't be stupid, son." The voice mail machine beeped to signal this was the end of his messages. He snorted in twisted amusement. _Send her some flowers. _The apple never fell far from the tree.

_Don't be stupid son._

_Yeah, Daniel, don't be stupid, your not capable of loving her, of committing to her. Let her go._ _Listen to Daddy dearest. Prove him right. _

Daniel grabbed the bottle from the cabinet and took it to the head. It was _just_ vodka. He began to haphazardly strip off his clothes and when he began trying to fling his shirt from himself he nearly fell. He tripped over the leg of the dining table and fell to the partly carpeted floor. His phone fell out his pocket and it seemed like perfect timing because his phone rang and he knew exactly who it was. He reached for it and flipped it open. He had the ringer assigned specifically for her.

" Daniel " incapable of loving or committing" Meade here" He said drunkenly and Betty knew automatically something was wrong.

"Daniel? What's wrong? Why do you sound like that?" Betty asked worriedly.

" Oh nothing's wrong. Sophia is going to marry dancing guy and haven't you heard? It's not possible for me to be interested in a woman for a long period of time. And I'm a disappointment to my father oh and we can't forget this one; I'll never measure up to my dead brother. Just ask my father for the details he knows the whole story, after all he wrote it." Daniel bit it out bitterly as he continued to lay on the floor.

" Daniel are you drunk?"

" Of course not. Okay, maybe just a little bit" He realized when the patterns on his tie, that was swinging from his neck onto his bare chest, became hazy.

" You want me to come over?" Betty asked and Daniel was just about to say no. He didn't need anything but a little more of the vodka he couldn't seem to remember where he put down but there was an echo of want that _needed_ her to do exactly that. The silence stretched long because besides the thought catching him off guard he didn't know how to voice what he wanted, _Yes_ made him weak and _no_ made him a coward. He didn't consider himself either. But luckily for him Betty took the silence as something more troubling then what was actually a faltering moment of a confused nearly-drunk man.

" I'm coming over." She said hurriedly and then she was gone.

He might have dozed off. He might have spent the unaccounted time in his head but he wasn't sure of anything except of the voice that he could recognize a mile off.

" _Daniel." _She sounded frightened, terrified, as she scurried across the room and dropped to her knees, shaking him furiously. She thought something was wrong. There _was _something wrong but his life sucking didn't deserve the fear in her voice.

" Betty. _Betty_ I'm fine! But I might not be if you keep shaking me like that." Daniel finally said and Betty breathed a heavy sigh of relief before slapping him on his back.

"Ow! What was that for?" Daniel asked.

" For scaring me half to death." She said with anger in her voice.

" I'm sorry. Thanks for coming." He said it low, in an almost contemplative way. There were very few people who would come, including his father.

" You didn't leave me much choice. I was worried. I know how irrational you can be when your sober, so you drunk is scary." She said jokingly. He returned the smile. Then he looked inquisitive.

" How'd you get in?"

" Oh..Um your door was unlocked." She said it entirely too fast. Daniel smirked because Betty was lying. _Betty_ was a bad liar and yet insisted on doing it anyway.

" I locked my door when I came in the house. So that isn't at all possible." Daniel said assuredly and he felt warm and fuzzy as the smile leisurely graced his lips, alcohol did some wonderful things. Betty's cheeks reddened and Daniel couldn't tell you why all of a sudden he felt the need to trace the rising flush. He looked at her expectantly.

" I told the super I was your….your wife" She stumbled and Daniel's eyes sparkled with laughter.

"_Really_? And he bought it? Good thing the super isn't Sofia or my dad….or me"

He finished softly and Betty noticed the melancholy dim the light in Daniel's eyes.

" _I_ could see you married. Your wife would be really pretty and you'd look really cute together in photos. You'd have two kids. One boy: Danny, of course, and he'd have piercing blue eyes just like yours. One girl: Emily. She'd look just like her mom, which would make you puddy in her hands. Oh and one dog; Cheyenne. You'd have the picket fence…the whole nine yards" Betty said in contemplation as she looked down at Daniel, who had turned on his side, his face resting in his hand, while she sat down beside him on the wooden floor.

The alcohol in his system allowed him to get caught up in Betty's delusion and no matter how much he wanted to believe he didn't want that, he did, badly. He wanted to matter to someone at the end of the day. He wanted someone to matter to him like that. He wanted that feeling of home, Christmas tree ornaments, and family dinners. The things he didn't have growing up.

" Yeah? So what about you? Who is little Emily and Danny going to play with?" Daniel asked and he was thankful he could blame the alcohol for his curiosity. Betty smiled sadly, she shook her head in doubt, a little laugh of skepticism.

" I think our lives are going to be fairly different." She said.

" Why?" Daniel asked.

" There are thousands of girls that would love to be your wife. Let's just say it's the not the same for me." Betty said looking away and for some reason she was embarrassed to admit that in front of Daniel.

" You think you want that? Girls or well guys, in your case, to fall all over you because you have money, that want you for all the wrong reasons. Well, you can have it." He said sharply.

" I just meant that a lot of guys wouldn't see their self with me and I don't blame them because-"

"because you're smart and guys are idiots" He finished and that caught Betty off guard, she smiled beatifically. In Daniel's mostly dark apartment, while only the moonlight and streetlights basked them, those dreams of hers didn't seem to be so far away.

" I like you drunk" She said before laughing, kicking off her shoes.

" Thanks...I think."

" I'm sorry about Sofia" Betty whispered softly.

" Me too. I'm sorry that she's right. I'm sorry that my father's right." He said in a slurred tangent.

" They aren't, right, I mean. I think you just need to find the right girl and just because you haven't found her yet doesn't mean your never going to. Now, the bed hopping isn't entirely necessary." She said sheepishly, and looked up cautiously, Daniel was smirking at her. They caught eyes and for seconds they seemed to catch a glimpse of something in the other's eyes that they weren't expecting. Betty looked away first. When she looked back. He had a serious expression on his face.

" How do you know?" Daniel asked ponderingly.

" Know what?"

" When you've found 'the one'" Daniel said whisper soft.

" You know that feeling of butterflies you get at the bottom of your stomach when you're really nervous about something? It's like that times ten. Your palms get all sweaty and your hearts beats really fast when they are close and you can't think about anything else besides wanting to be with them. And your on cloud nine because _she's _happy." Betty finished in a wistful tone, she knew what that felt like.

"Oh" Daniel said. He cared about Sofia but he didn't think it was anything like what Betty described.

"Some thanksgiving huh?" Daniel asked sarcastically and he had finally spotted the bottle of opened vodka on the dining room table, at the edge, ironically enough, the want of it had vanished. Betty shrugged her shoulders, smiling. Betty seemed to be just what he needed.

" I'm sorry you ran out on in the middle of thanksgiving dinner with your family for me." he said sincerely.

" I still spent it with a friend. Besides, at my house, thanksgiving is usually over when every one is stuffed and one more enchilada would have did me in, anyway." that got a laugh out of Daniel. Daniel began to clutch the corner of his couch in efforts to get up, he stumbled only briefly before Betty got up and put her arm around his back. His skin was really warm.

" It seemed so much easier in my head" he laughed at his self. Before he realized it Betty had him in his bed, and was tucking him under covers. He had missed the scenic view from his living room to his bedroom. The moonlight caught Betty just right, as her hair hung in her face and Daniel couldn't help but notice the slightly pink tint to her lips, and the chocolate brown of her eyes, and the soft looking skin that he so badly wanted to touch but didn't.

"your beautiful" And right when he had almost forget the negative side of being intoxicated his mind and mouth seemed to be one even if he never meant to utter that out loud.

Betty almost didn't catch the whisper soft spoken words but she pretended not to have heard him, because he couldn't possibly be in his right mind. She was done pulling the covers over him and funny enough when Daniel had removed himself from the living room floor with Betty's help he hadn't planned on going to bed.

" You tricked me" He said only in amusement, a sleepy smile gracing his lips. She shrugged her shoulders innocently.

" You're good right?" Betty asked. He nodded.

"Well, then I think I'm going to head home then." Betty said.

" It's late. Why don't you just take the sofa?" Daniel said softy and if there was ever anything she couldn't deny, it was a sleepy, soft spoken Daniel.

" But-"It was feeble, and half hearted at best.

" Extra sheets and comforters in the hallway closet" He said in finality.

After she had called Hilda and told her she wasn't coming home tonight and listened to her sister "ooh" and "aww" because she was spending the night at one of the most eligible bachelors' place in the world, she made up the couch and had finally managed to slip under the covers when she heard Daniel's voice.

"Betty?" He asked.

" Yeah?"

" All settled?" He asked.

" Yup."

" Night "

"Night Daniel"

---

Betty had left a little after five so she could get ready for work. She made sure the sheets and comforters were folded neatly and placed back where she found them. She stepped in Daniel's room and he was still asleep. He looked almost peaceful, little boy-ish. She smiled and wondered if he was going to make it in today. She hoped he would. Today was her last day at Mode Magazine, as Daniel Meade's assistant. She hoped that didn't mean the end of their friendship as well . But maybe, just maybe, the distance would dissipate the feelings she managed to have for him. She wrote a little note for Daniel and posted it to his door before leaving and locking the door with the key the super gave her. She dropped the key in the mailbox like the super had told her.

After managing to get washed and dressed she had left for work with a box in hand. She had made it to work early, in typical Betty fashion. She shoved the box under her desk where it would stay until she used it later that day. Throughout her haze of phone calls, scheduling Daniel's appointments, and setting up shop for the new assistant she still kept a steady watch of the clock. It was going on 12 p.m. and still Daniel hadn't showed up. She was almost tempted to call and make sure he was okay until the elevators pinged open and Daniel walked in. He looked a little tired but he was there nonetheless. She hid a little smile behind her box, as she continued to throw her items into it through out the day as fewer and fewer things were required.

Daniel walked to her desk and he smiled once they caught sight of each other but Daniel's faltered as he noticed the half full box that took residence on Betty's desk. But he quickly changed his face into a look of indifference.

" Right. Today _is_ your last day. I can't believe I forgot." The smile came out tight.

" Yeah, just trying to get everything done before I leave."

" Well, I guess I should let you get to it." For some reason, he didn't want to let her _get to it. _That would probably be why his feet were still planted firmly in that same spot. Betty looked up at him amused.

" Oh. Right." He said before leaving and Betty looked back at him curious as to why he was behaving so strangely but she shrugged it off as one of Daniel's days and plus he was allowed. Last night he had called her beautiful, _her _beautiful. Today was a step up from last night.

The work day had slipped into night and the Mode party was in full blast. She found herself unable to enjoy it because she was gonna miss this place. The hours had winded down and the party had pretty much fizzled. She had said goodbye to Amanda, Marc, and even Wilhelmina but she hadn't found the nerve to say goodbye to Daniel. Once she saw Daniel in his office through the glass window she figured this was as good a time as any.

She peeked her head into the office.

" Mind some company?" That seemed to pull Daniel out of whatever haze he was in and he looked up, as a smile, that even caught _him _off guard, graced his lips. He was worried that she might have left without saying goodbye. Even though he kept telling himself that Betty Suarez wouldn't do that, not his assistant, not his _friend. _Betty hadn't let him down yet.

" sure" his voice was low and rough.

"So some party huh?" He said by way of conversation as she came and sat down beside him. He didn't know why he felt nervous all of a sudden. This was the same easy- to- talk- to Betty from last night.

She felt fidgety and the smell of his cologne wasn't helping.

"Yup, definitely that. I saw you and Sofia talking. How'd it go? You guys work it out?" Betty said and she wouldn't mention that as much as she wanted to look away, she couldn't because she needed to see that he went for girls like Sofia. The ones that were very pretty, size 2, sultry, attention grabbers not the plain Janes like her that faded into the background. Maybe the crazy idea of 2.5 kids and a picket fence would disappear and the rest she could work on later.

" Yeah, something like that." He said and it didn't matter that he was leaving out the part that mattered most. The part that he was confused about. The part that had him in his office while a party was going on.

"That's great Daniel. You deserve to be happy" She said with sincerity and a smile that was real even though it was painful.

"You too" He muttered back. The silence seemed to fit them in a space that was entirely too big for two people. Something else sheltered that silence but they weren't sure what.

" Thanks again for last night." He said and he mostly remembered. It was just bits and pieces out of order but for the most part he remembered the important parts.

" Your welcome."

" So… you can handle Amanda being your assistant right? Besides her being a little gossipy I think she's perfect for the job." She smiled even though she was sniveling and drying her eyes with the tissue.

" You have nothing to worry about." He said as he began to stand. He really wasn't one to face things head on. So he really couldn't take too much more of looking Betty dead in her face, not when all he wanted to do, now, was beg her to say stay. Not when she was sniveling through her words. Pacing was a much safer, comfortable thing to do.

"Good, because I think it won't be too long before everyone sees what Daniel Meade can really do." She said with a small smile which served to mock the tears running down her face. Daniel couldn't explain the feeling in chest at her words.

" Well I guess I should get going. I'm sure you have last minute Editor-N-Chief things to do." Betty said standing and he came to stand in front of her.

"Not really" He could just say bye and let her go but he knew it wouldn't go that way at all. Betty had incased him in a hug and he hugged back thankful that Betty had made the first move because he might not ever let himself do it even if it was something he wanted to do.

" God, I'm such a cry baby" She said muffled, and Daniel smiled because he didn't mind. Because it distracted him from the tears that threatened to fall from his own eyes. They finally broke apart. She started to wipe away her tears and maybe he would have wiped them away for her but his hands were warm and sweaty so he stuffed them in his pockets.

" So if I totally screw this up can I come back?" She asked half-jokingly as she played with the fringes on her shirt. He looked her in her eyes.

"Your going to do great." He said quietly, his voice coarse and he felt like he was trying out his throat after screaming, talking around a lump in his throat.

" Thanks." She said softly and she looked down because she could see the unshed tears in his eyes. He did crazy things to practicality and made her believe in the impossible.

" So I guess this is the part where I say goodbye huh?" She asked.

" sometimes" He said because for some reason he wasn't ready to hear the words.

" Well, Like George Clooney would say, Goodnight and Good luck" she said with a smile. She even snuck in a kiss on the cheek. It was a nice delusion. But this wasn't good night. He knew goodnights. Goodnights were when Betty would wake him up after he had fallen asleep, drooling on old files of Mode Magazine in the late nights in the office. She would pull the file from under his chin and he knew it was goodnight even before she muttered it over her shoulder. But he also knew she would be there tomorrow morning teasing him about his snoring and the wet spot he had left on the folder. _That_ was goodnight. _This_ was goodbye. Like I might see you around but who knows. Like never coming back. Why did it feel so much like forever? He nodded, trying to get his throat to work again.

"Bye Betty" he wasn't sure she heard it before she left because when he looked up she was already pressing the button to the elevator, carrying the box that held items that connected her here and would've made her Goodnight and not Goodbye.

He couldn't tell you how long he stood there staring at the elevator doors that had long ago took Betty away. She would be okay. He knew it. And he would be okay, also. He could make it without her. He had Sophia. Sophia. In that second she seemed only a little inadequate.

--

Before his mind could interfere he had picked up the phone and dialed numbers that had so quickly become branded into his memory. Her voice mail came on.

" When you walk into a room my heart speeds up. My hands get all clammy and all I can think about is wanting to be with you. I get that nervous feeling in the bottom of my stomach and I'm on cloud nine because _your _happy. Doesn't that make you _the one_, Betty?" Daniel finished and hung up.

A/N: Please R/R.

**THE END**


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